EP 123: Magnus Midtbø — The Hard Work Behind Success, Go-To Climbing Workouts, and Takeaways from Training with Adam Ondra

Magnus Midtbø is a professional climber turned YouTuber from Norway. He has climbed 5.15b (9b), and his YouTube channel recently hit 1M subscribers. We talked about burning out on competitions and starting his YouTube career, the hard work behind success, favorite collaborations, go-to climbing workouts, and takeaways from training with Adam Ondra.

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Show Notes:

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/magnus-midtbo

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:06:39) – Burning out on competitions, and starting his career as a YouTuber

(00:10:45) – Who is Magnus’s audience?

(00:13:10) – Editing and perfectionism

(00:15:59) – The hard work behind success

(00:18:05) – Pacing and music, and making the films personal

(00:21:09) – Being an interovert as a YouTuber

(00:23:35) – Why YouTube Channels die out

(00:26:16) – Making other types of videos outside of climbing, and not being afraid of trying new things

(00:28:05) – Parallels between YouTube and climbing, and logging routes on 8a.nu

(00:29:32) – Being known for his strength, and suffering during collaborations

(00:30:19) – Free soloing with Alex Honnold

(00:32:45) – Patron question from Cody: Which collaborations were the most fun?

(00:35:59) – Jujimufu

(00:37:54) – What Magnus learned from collaborating with Juji and Tom

(00:39:37) – Getting criticism from climbers, and letting go of worrying about what other people think

(00:40:49) – Anton the Russian Ninja Warrior

(00:42:09) – What Magnus has learned from spending time with Adam Ondra, and surrounding yourself with people who make you feel lazy

(00:44:19) – Finding balance vs. focusing on one thing

(00:50:58) – A week in Magnus’s life, and why he doesn’t film many outdoor videos

(00:56:37) – Common themes between top climbers, and how many of us overcomplicate our training

(00:58:23) – What climbing means to Magnus now, and wanting to climb a V15 (8C) boulder

(01:00:04) – Quitting coffee

(01:02:05) – Magnus’s go-to strength maintenance session

(01:04:12) – Why Magnus primarily climbs on commercial gym boulders

(01:05:47) – What Magnus would do if he wanted to climb his hardest again

(01:08:45) – Feeling healthier and happier at his current bodyweight

(01:11:04) – How much harder Magnus climbs without a shirt

(01:11:49) – Training on rock

(01:13:45) – Patron Question from Andrew: Biggest takeaways from training with Adam Ondra?

(01:16:39) – Watching tutorials on cameras and editing

(01:18:33) – How collaborations come about

(01:20:24) – Dream collaborations

(01:21:34) – What’s next for Magnus’s channel

(01:25:14) – Why Magnus doesn’t outsource his editing

(01:27:26) – How it works to get paid as a YouTuber, and investing in climbing gyms

(01:29:24) – What Magnus wishes he would have known earlier about YouTube, and wishing he hadn’t had respect for climbing grades

(01:33:17) – How top climbers almost have two personalities, and balancing humility with confidence

(01:35:18) – Learning to make fewer excuses, and other gifts from YouTube

(01:37:22) – Traveling, hiking, and exploring

(01:38:48) – What’s next

(01:39:30) – Where to find Magnus on the internet